Master of his heart (Brielle and Max)

Dustin scooped up Heather, who had just managed to spill a bit on her bib during dinner. He'd already tidied up and refilled the bathtub with fresh water.

Emma watched him handle everything so effortlessly, feeling utterly clueless about how she could help. She didn't even know where to start.

Seeing Dustin's pants were soaked, she quickly offered to take Heather off his hands. "Let me do it. Go change your pants."

"Heather's a bit calmer than Jaime. Jaime's a handful, but Heather just sits quietly during bath time," Dustin commented as he placed Heather in the bathtub. True to form, she didn't splash around but remained calm and gentle.

It seemed like a child's personality really does start forming from an early age. Heather's eyes, so much like Emma's, twinkled as she flashed an adorable, incomplete smile. Emma's heart melted, and she eagerly took over. "Let me. Go change."

Thinking of how well-behaved Heather was, Dustin stood up to unpack a change of clothes from his suitcase. Meanwhile, Emma was bathing Heather and found her slippery skin hard to manage. In a moment of carelessness, Heather's head bumped against the edge of the tub.

Thankfully, it wasn't a sharp edge, but Heather's bottom lip quivered, and she started crying immediately. Emma panicked, trying to wipe Heather's eyes with her soapy hands, nearly getting soap in her eyes.

In a frantic move, she grabbed some makeup remover pads lying nearby, wiping the suds off Heather's face. Heather kept crying, and Dustin walked in with purposeful strides. "Sweetheart, what's wrong?"

her, "Shh, daddy's here, it'll be all right." Heather's cries subsided, and Dustin breathed a sigh of relief. But when he turned around, he

just one option. He gently wiped Emma's cheeks with a tissue. Emma's tears flowed even more freely, turning into choked

childbirth and mourning her mother's death shortly after she had longed to return to her simpler life, even if it meant marrying

return.

mother. Even a simple bath could go wrong, witnessing their dependence on Dustin twisted a knife in her heart, but she felt it was a punishment she deserved. In the

enveloped her from behind. Dustin's embrace was warm. "Emma," he whispered, "I'm sorry. Maybe it would've been better if

Emma stiffened, haunted by

what could have been. She remembered her desperate

her to

ultimately her

adults with children, love was

persisted. She managed a weak smile, thinking it should be Dustin who wished never to have met

The Beet